Hello

I have actually stayed at both of these resorts. I enjoyed my time at the Allegro 100x more than El Mandarin. When I stayed at El Mandarin it was 5 1/2 years ago and I have heard that it has improved, but at the time, they only had the one buffet, no activities staff and most of the staff spoke spanish or italian only. I just stayed at the Allegro in April of this year and the food, drinks, rooms, shows and activities staff were perfect.

The Allegro is much closer to Playa del Carmen, you could walk it in 20 min, but El Mandarin is about a 20 min cab ride, it would take close to an hour to walk there from El Mandarin.

Hope this helps.